a dash of adventure

wow...looks like christine and i are going through a terrible fun drought >___< that has to be remedied quickly


to be fair, grad school/working life is an adventure all by itself, but i do miss the exotic travel, cosplay prep and late night girl talks =\ wonder when that's going to pick up again... A-kon yeah? :D


well, on the adventure front, i've had some fun :) but cosplay has hit a stand still.  no worries, i still plan on whipping out at least!!! Tifa for A-kon *crosses fingers*


so, for your enjoyment, i've included pictures of my spontaneous trip to chicago to meet people i've never met and a place i've never seen.  i didn't visit millenium park, see the bean, tour navy pier, gaze over the skyline from hancock observatory or even eat deep dish pizza (so fail on that one :P) but i toured northwestern university and made some new friends :) i call that a good time ^__^

Chicago O'Hare Airport :)

Chicago!

Navy Pier

Chicago...from across Lake Michigan

Alice Millar Chapel

Northwestern University

Senior Tradition: paint rocks along Lake Michigan

obviously, i will have to go back to chicago again...for the deep dish pizza :P

the happiest place on earth :)

DISNEYLAND! weeeeeeeeeee! on one of the most busiest park days of the year, my sister, Jerry and I decided we wanted to go to Disneyland.  Regardless of the crazy lines at 6am! and all day long on each ride, ridiculously expensive food (we brought our own), huge crowds, chilly weather and tired feet, I had the best time :) i'm such a little kid hehe


it's been 15 years since i've gone and it'll probably be another 15 before i ever go back (not to mention to replace the hole the ticket burned in my pocket), but despite mass commercialism, Disney has a special gift for capturing the magic and wonder and fantasy of childhood :D

Ah~  I've never been to Disneyland (I think)  I feel like my childhood was deprived XD...  Road trip :3?

6am

7am lines - park opens at 8am ><

tomorrowland - home of the astro blaster and space mountain

Big Thunder Mountain

Tangled

Finding Nemo

Matterhorn Bobsled

Storybook Garden  That looks kind of scary to walk in to XD;

Disney California Adventure

Ferris wheels are scary...lol

the most amazing water show  So pretty!

world of color :)

A truly magical place

I'm dreaming of white Christmas...

Merry (belated) Christmas everyone! i hope you all had a lovely time with your family and friends :) i know did!

This year, I had my first white christmas in the mountains of Mammoth, CA, where my family and i went snowboarding!  the terrible constant rain in cali led to 10-15 feet of gorgeous, powdery snow that covered the the mountainside and (thankfully) made for super soft landings and pretty pictures :D

views from our condo/the lift  It's so gorgeous! :)

so, never having gone snowboarding or even played in snow before, this little vacation was three days of firsts and lots of pain T_T i hate the cold and my uncle is a stickler for safety so i wore layers of undershirts/thermals/tees + hoodie + snow jacket + leggings/snow pants + wool/cotton socks + gloves + helmet + goggles + neck gaiter + wristguards (i highly recommend)...i was just like a giant puffy ball of warmth ^_^ almost too much so lol

i'm the one in yellow!  You guys are too cute!

I can summarize each day in just several words - Day 1: exhausting, Day 2: painful and Day 3: fun XD
Overall, snowboarding is just tough! especially for someone as unathletic as i am lol it requires you to really focus on your balance and you use sets of muscles that you don't usually (or in my case, ever) employ.  Lessons on the first day were soooo frustrating because we worked on gliding, heel edge and j-turns i.e. STOPPING lol oh it just hurt, mostly because to stop, i just fell -- faceplants, on my knees, on my arms,on my chest, on my tailbone T_T but it really does get better with practice :) last day on the slopes, i managed to get down the slopes in record time (1.5 hours to 20 min) and could count the number of times i fell on my hands lol 

the lodge

on the slopes

i was really tired...

me and ellie's winter serenade

 end of the day :)

once i stop hurting, i really want to go again :) and once i'm good, i really want pretty gear LOL  
I'm glad you had fun, even though it was painful ^ ^;
happy holidays!